In the article, Taming Stress, Sapolsky’s objective was to explain the relationship between the brain’s stress pathways and psychiatric disorders (in particular anxiety and depression). He described that having this understanding could facilitate the production of new treatments. The new treatments are portrayed as going “beyond” the older medicine such as Valium and Prozac.
Main Arguments:
• Role of stress in anxiety
• Role of stress in depression
• Research in the biology of stress gave birth to new and improved treatments for the disorders
Role of stress in anxiety: Sapolsky introduced the term chronic stress to clarify how it can cause anxious thoughts. When multiple occurrences of stressful situations happen without any outlets (ways to release it) it can cause anxiety to appear in the absence of a stressor. He related it to the feeling of always “being on guard” as a persons waits for the next challenge. The formation of anxious thoughts can then set off the stress responses in your body such as increased heart rate, sweating, and more energy.
Role of stress in depression: Stress and depression share similar aspects such as the feeling of a situation being out of one’s control, being unable to predict results, and being overwhelmed. Also, he proposed that it is common for stressful problems or life events to come before peoples’ depressive episodes. In other words severe stress can be associated with the emergence of depression. Stress acts on the brain’s mood pathways by reducing norepinephrine and serotonin levels. This reduction would cause issues with a person’s mood, sleep cycle, attentiveness, and energy level.
Research in the biology of stress gave birth to new and improved treatments for the disorders: Sapolsky beli...
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.... Those in the field of psychology would probably benefit having it as a resource.
Works Cited
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Sapolsky, R. (2003). Taming Stress. Scientific American, 289(3), 86-95.
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To a great extent, stress can be a helpful response, especially for prehistoric humans. During this era, our species needed to react quickly to outside stimuli through a response of “fight or flight”. Through stress, certain hormones are released to help the individual resist the stressor, which may have meant running away from a natural predator. Thus, stress is a positive response that ensures the survival of the species. However, stress over a prolonged period of time causes exhaustion in the individual. Consequently, although stress can be helpful for individuals today, many often experience chronic stress, inflicting varying degrees of damage to their bodies.
In the 2008 National Geographic documentary Stress, Robert Sapolsky and other scientists explain the deadly consequences of prolonged stress. “If you’re a normal mammal,” Sapolsky says, “what stress is about is three minutes of screaming terror on the savannah, after which either it’s over with or you’re over with.” During those three minutes of terror the body responds to imminent danger by deploying stress hormones that stimulate the heart rate and blood pressure while inhibiting other functions, like digestion, growth and reproduction.
Through my extensive research on depression I have learned a lot of new things. I have learned about the many forms of depression and treatment for depression. I have also learned a little about what is believed to go on chemically in the brain of a clinically depressed person. I was also able to partially determine what sort of role genetics, chemicals and personal influences in the brain. Though I was unable to determine exactly how environmental and personal stress can cause a chemical imbalance in a person, I was even able to speculate about this issue and determine some theories of my own on why and how this may happen.
"Module 2: A Brief History of Mental Illness and the U.S. Mental Health Care System." Unite for Sight. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.
Stress is a condition that affects both genders and all age groups. It is a condition that is inevitable to live without in our society. However, the human race has exhausted the use of stress. Originally, stress initial purpose was to actually save us from life threatening situations. For example, when an animal senses a predator or comes into contact with it. The animal triggers its stress response, allowing the animal to burst into energy and trying to get away from the predator. Once the predator the animals' stress levels for example a zebra’s stress levels go down and return to normal. However, that is sadly not the case for humans who can't seem to shut off their stress response, but only know how to trigger it. Therefore, our high
Stress means different things to different people and stress effects people in different ways. Some people think stress is something that happens to them such as an injury or a promotion and others think that stress is what happens to our mind, body and behaviors in response to an event. While stress does involve events and how one responds to them these are not the critical factors, but our thoughts about the situation in which we are involved are the critical factors. Essentially, stress exists whenever homeostasis is disturbed or cannot be maintained (Stress and the Social System Course Guide, 2013). Homeostasis refers to the body's ability to keep the internal chemical and physical environments constant. As your body begins to react to stress several changes occur. These changes include increased heart rate, blood pressure and secretion of stimulatory hormones. Ones body prepares itself in stressful situations to either stand ground and fight or to flee from the situation. Walter Cannon called this stressful reaction the fight-or-flight response (Greenberg, 2012).
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Each bodily physiological system has an individual established set point, or level of balance; however, some fluctuations in these levels are tolerated. The balance of any system can be, and regularly is, disturbed by internal and/or external events of the mechanical, physical, chemical, biological, and/or social types. When this balance is disrupted, and involuntary mobilizations of biological processes are not able to re-establish it, an alarm reaction is activated (Schedlowski and Tewes, 1999). This reaction is referred to as a stress response, and the activating agent is the stressor (Selye, 1936). Recently, studies of stress have shifted from demonstrating relationships between psychological factors and somatic outcomes, to investigations of the mediational pathways involved in these associations. For example, (Cohen and Williamson, 1991) have built on the work of Lazarus’ model by suggesting that once an environmental event is encountered, it is appraised, and an affective response is made.
Hollandsworth, James G. (1990). The Physiology of Psychological Disorders. Plenem Press. New York and London. P.111.
Unmanageable stress can cause depression. Never getting a chance to focus on yourself and always being busy may cause you to be over stressed. Taking time to prioritize life’s obligations and allowing time to take care of yourself is a way to prevent feelings of being tired, sad, anxious, or depressed.
Kumar, Anil, Puneet Rinwa, Gurleen Kaur, and Lalit Machawal. "Stress: Neurobiology, consequences, and management." Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences, 2013: 1-7.
The human body has different ways of responding to stress; one quick responding nerve-hormonal system involving adrenaline, another long-lasting system involving cortisol, and perhaps others. These systems not only determine the intensity of our anxiety reactions but also our attitudes, energy level, depression, and physical health after the stressful events are over. As individuals, our nervous systems differ; however, according to Richard Dienstbier at the University of Nebraska, we may be able to modify our unique physiological reactions by learning coping skills. The genetic, constitutional, and intrauterine factors influence stress. Some of us may have been born "nerv...
Stress may play a causal role in a wide variety of mental disorders. Some of the mental disorders in which stress appears to have a causal role are anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and substance-related disorders.
"Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to both good and bad experiences which can be beneficial to your health and safety." (8 Ways Stress Is More Dangerous Than You Think) Everyone 's body responds to stress by releasing hormones, also, you brain receives more oxygen. Stress starts to occur when we become worried about a task or responsibilities we face. Major stress is called chronic stress. It can cause symptoms that can affect your health in a larger way. Some people may say that they succeed more under stress, but sadly, that’s rarely the case. Research has shown that "stress makes a person more likely to make mistakes" (Stress Symptoms, Signs, & Causes). For most people, stress is extremely normal for them that they don 't see it as anything but ordinary. However, stress can motivate someone while under pressure and even get you through a tough or dangerous